The Music of the Beatles and American Popular Culture

Catalog description

The Beatles are the most significant musical group in the history of popular music. Their songs are derived from diverse sources, such as rhythm 'n' blues, rock 'n' roll, country 'n' western, Motown, soul, folk music, folk rock, the British Music Hall, and European and Indian classical music traditions. Two ideas define their work: an emphasis on freedom, and how song texts can be interpreted in different ways. The Beatles had a great impact not only on American popular music during their heyday in the 1960s but also on the country' s popular culture in which they were considered philosopher kings. Beatle albums mirrored changing trends in the culture, from the pre-Vietnam War youthfulness of A Hard Day's Night, to the psychedelia of Revolver and Sgt. Pepper, to the countercultural mindset of The White Album. This inter-domain course will focus on how the Beatles influenced American popular culture from the 1960s to the present day. It will examine how the Beatles were a part of a mid-twentieth-century British youth subculture that was shaped by the cultural attitudes of American rock 'n' roll. The course will then turn its attention to the seismic shift initiated by the Fab Four in both music and pop culture in the US from 1964 to 1970, demonstrating how it has permeated the popular culture of the 1970s to the present day. The course will enhance the appreciation of the Beatles and their music through its interdisciplinary focus, contextualizing the Fab Four's work in order to show how both popular music and culture can influence one another. One way the course will facilitate this goal is through the inclusion of selected readings from English literature and popular culture upon which students will write reflection essays.